CLASS OF 2013 | 2024 | SUMMER ISSUE
Happy 2024! Thanks to all my classmates who wrote in!
Anna Swartz is still enjoying life in Boston but was dismayed to see that not a single member of the Class of 2013 wrote in with an update for our last class notes. Hopefully she can rectify this with a small update: she saw the eclipse from her porch last week (partially). She also hopes to plant some herbs this spring and enjoy fresh mint and chives. All the best! Danielle Craig says, “Hey, Wes! I am living in Sacramento, California, (farm-to-fork capital of the world!) where I have been working as a public defender since finishing a clerkship in Anchorage, Alaska, after law school. Life is good and excited to see some Wes peeps at my wedding in June. Hope everyone is doing well!”
Andrew Pfeiffer and Kaya Ceci got married in McMinnville, Oregon, in front of a beautiful crowd of family and friends, including a wonderful Wesleyan contingent present to celebrate. They are happily settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with their dog, Diego, and cat, Haku. Kaya is working at the Petey Greene Program, a national nonprofit network specializing in carceral education programming, and Andrew is working in student services at a charter school in North Philly and touring with his band, FeelFree.
Erica Robenalt recently finished her PhD at Newcastle University in media, culture, heritage and has since published her first book, The Queer Museum: Radical Inclusion and Western Museology. It looks at the relationship between museums and LGBTQ+ communities. It is available on Open Access. Nick Orvis graduated from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale this past May with an MFA in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism and is continuing into the same program’s doctor of fine arts degree. He and Andrea Ruiz-Lopez are living in White Plains with their extremely cute dog, Brego. Evan Carmi is still living in northeast Portland, Oregon, with his partner, dog, and ever- growing urban garden. Recently he’s been enjoying skiing on Mt. Hood, gardening, and growing food, and cultivating creativity in work. Reach out if passing though!
James Gardner was selected in January 2024 as the diversity, equity, and inclusion–health equity officer for the William S. Middleton Veteran Affairs Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. He oversees organizational health and development, strategic planning, education, and coordination for the health-care system covering over 40,000 veterans and 3,000 employees. James also oversees metrics to achieve maximum health equity outcomes and reduce health disparities for underserved and historically marginalized veteran populations. James has been at the Madison Veteran Affairs Hospital (VA) for nearly six years now, having led Madison VA’s DEI strategic planning, cultural and organizational transformation, data-driven health-equity projects, DEI Committee, Anti-Racism Action Team, and worked nationally on the LGBTQ+ subgroup to the VA secretary’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access (I-DEA) Council, for which he received the VA secretary’s Coin of Recognition in June 2023. If you happen to be in the Madison, Wisconsin, area, feel free to connect with him over LinkedIn!
Matt Lichtash and Margot Sidman welcomed their baby boy, Adrien, in July 2023. He is happy and healthy, and Matt is already training him to compete in Wesleyan intramural sports. He has had the pleasure of spending time with many Wes ’13ers and ’14ers, especially David Nam ‘14. Zach Schonfeld recently published his second book, How Coppola Became Cage, a comprehensive study of Nicolas Cage’s early career and rise to fame. The Wall Street Journal described it as “delightful” and noted that “Mr. Schonfeld revels in all manner of minutiae.” Speaking of minutiae, Mr. Schonfeld is also collaborating with several other alums on a project to restore the Wesleying archives, which were destroyed in a tragic accident in January. Tobias Butler started a business making electronics in his Oakland apartment: Tuneshine is a live album art display that automatically shows the artwork for the music you play on streaming services on a tasteful lo-fi LED display. He’s sold more than 250 as of April and is planning on selling about 750 more by the time of his wedding in August.
Prince Emenalo is now a father of two: a two-year-old son and his soon-to-be one-year -old daughter. Prince has been working in telemedicine since May 2023 and also went skydiving for the first time with a fellow alum, Galimah Baysah, for his 32nd birthday.